Follow my journey from being overweight and addicted to ice cream, to running marathon's!

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Run the Bluegrass half marathon Recap

Saturday I ran half marathon #20, Run the Bluegrass.
They say this is America's prettiest half, but also the toughest. I totally agree with both of those statements!

This race has a later start, 9 a.m., which is nice since I live an hour away, I don't have to wake up super early.
I woke up at 6, got ready, ate my peanut butter and banana sandwich, and headed to Lexington.
My first stop was to pick up Kim from her hotel, so her hubby and kiddos could sleep in. I love that we only live a couple hours from eachother, so we do a lot of the same races, which means I get to see her a lot!

We got to the race at 8, thankfully the sun was shining, but it sure was chilly!

I last ran this race in 2013, and it has more than doubled in size since then. This year there were 5,000 runners!
We sing the National Anthem, which is one of my favorite parts of every race, and off we go.

The hills started immediately. And they last the whole 13.1 miles. No breaks, no time to relax, because as soon as you do, there's another hill. (46 total)
My first 3 miles were under a 12 minute pace, but I knew that wouldn't last.
I had decided I wasn't going to worry about my time though, I was most likely going to walk the hills, and I was going to just enjoy the beauty and have a good time.
The course was absolutely beautiful! Countless horse farms, with thoroughbreds grazing or running along side of us.

This race also has a 7 mile option. As I was running I started talking to another runner who told me he missed the 7 mile turn off! He said well, this will be his first half marathon. He wasn't ready for it, and seemed pretty bummed. I tried my best to cheer him up. I never saw him again, I hope he was ok.

Now, I had heard about mile 9. It was basically a never ending mountain. So I was prepared, bring it on! And it did not disappoint. That baby was tough. There was not one person around me running up that one.
About hills: I want to get better at them! My plan is to do some hill training this Spring. I loathe them, but I want to beat them. I want to be the one running up them. There is nothing wrong with walking them AT ALL, but I always want to push myself and get better. When I see people running hills, I always feel a twinge of "I wish I could do that". That is my goal!

Before the race started, I heard someone calling my name, and it was my friend Tammy. She decided at the last minute, along with her non running boyfriend and his son, to run the half!
We found eachother again around mile 11, and she was in a lot of pain. (She hadn't ran at all since our marathon in Nov.!) So I walked with her for about a mile and a half.
Around mile 12.5 I ran on ahead so I could run in the last little bit.

My time was 2:58, I was glad to see it under 3!
This is what greeted us at the finish line: Bourbon ball doughnuts! I can't describe how good they were. Although I only ate about half of mine. I just can't eat right after a race, unless it's a banana.
I later found out these will be available at Thornton's soon. Oh man....

A bourbon ball doughnut with some Kentucky Ale, perfection.

Tammy came in right after me, she did so good for not running for 4 months! Her boyfriend beat me by a few minutes, and his son (neither who had run before) came in at 2:18! How is that even possible??

Kim did so good too! One of these days I'm going to beat her ;)

I had a great time, even with all those hills. This is such a great race, I would recommend it to everyone!
I may have said a few times this is the last time I'm doing this one though... :)

This is how I ended my night. See, I don't have much willpower when it comes to ice cream. It was worth every calorie!

11 comments

Oh my god...46 hills????! I cannot even wrap my brain around that amount. I had about 9 to tackle and I was thinking that was rough. I now see I had it easy! Congrats on a job well done! I feel bad for the guy who missed his 7 mile turn off. I hope he's not hurting too bad. Thirteen miles can be overwhelming even when you're prepared for it.

I love how happy you are to see your friends at the races. So many friendships are made when you enter the world of running. It's wonderful!!

That ice cream was totally deserved! Under 3 hours with all those hills? YOU ROCK LADY!!!!I am so jealous over those medals - they are GORGS!!!!I always drop my jaw when people that never run can go out & do a half marathon / marathon without even thinking of training. Just proves that some people are built for running - others have to work at it (raising hand) ... So proud of you!!! You do amazing things!

Looks like such a beautiful and awesome race!Great job on the race and your time!!!If you want to love hills, it's super easy, just start telling yourself you love the burn, love the feeling. Believe it or not, once you start loving them you'll notice other than rare 12% steep incline hills, you won't even find yourself slowing down. Good luck as you make your way towards loving them!Your seriously having a great running year, so many races lately! I'm jealous, I'd love to be running a few marathons this spring. I'm aiming for fall though:)Again, huge Congratulations!!!

Great job!! I think I'm going to try to do this one next year -- if only for the scenery. I don't like hills either and haven't done any kind of hill training - not even sure how to go about that. "They" say that regular hill training improves your running on flat courses too -- but what do 'they' know anyway ... ;)

I don't think I would have been able to handle a bourbon ball doughnut after a race ... but yeah, I totally would have been able to take on any amount of ice cream :)